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Centre for Suicide Research | Professor Mark Williams | Wellcome Trust Research Programme | Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy | Further information on Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy |
Further information on Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
MBCT was designed to be used
to prevent relapse and recurrence of depression in those who are in recovery.
If you want to learn more about the use of the mindfulness approach for
people who remain vulnerable to depression, the approach is described in
Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale’s book (Segal, Z.V.,
Williams, J.M.G., & Teasdale, J.D. (2002) Mindfulness-based Cognitive
Therapy for Depression: a new approach to preventing relapse. Guilford Publications,
New York.) Written in a practical and accessible manner, it tells the story
of how the authors came to develop MBCT using clinical transcripts that
bring to life the challenges and promise of the approach.
Segal et al, 2002 (chapter 15), also gives a number of recommendations for
those who wish to learn more about mindfulness meditation in healthcare,
and some of these are summarised here.
Jon-Kabat-Zinn's own book, Full Catastrophe Living (1990; New York: Delacorte)
describes the UMass Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program in a very
engaging way. It is an excellent introduction to clinical applications of
mindfulness training (e.g. chronic pain, anxiety, stress-related physical
illness) and is essential reading for anyone wishing to explore this approach
further. This book is an important resource that is used in the MBCT program.
Jon Kabat-Zinn has also written Wherever you go, there you are: mindfulness
meditation in everyday life. (1994; New York: Hyperion, published in the
UK as "Mindfulness Meditation for Everyday Life"). This is a book
that conveys the spirit of bringing mindfulness to everyday experience,
together with suggestions for practice.
Another excellent source for a more detailed description of insight meditation,
the tradition from which clinical applications of mindfulness are most directly
derived, is "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom : The Path of Insight Meditation"
by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield (1987; Boston: Shambala).
And if you decide you would actually like directly to sample the practice of mindfulness?
There are many different forms
of meditation. It is therefore important to choose a tradition and teacher
that are compatible in spirit and form with the MBCT program. In practice,
this is likely to mean exploring the teachings offered by centres related
to the westernised insight meditation tradition. Information about these
centres can be obtained from Gaia House, West Ogwell, Newton Abbot, Devon,
TQ12 6EN, UK. Information on where there are other such centres worldwide
is available, directly or via links, from www.dharma.org.
Training in Mindfulness-based approaches in healthcare, including an introduction
to MBCT, is offered at the University of Wales, Bangor. See
www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness for details.
Finally, the material that is actually used in the MBCT program can be used
to provide both an excellent introduction to meditation practice, as well
as direct sampling of the exercises that were used for the patients in the
research program described earlier. The tapes come in two series, both recorded
by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Series One consists of two 45 minute tapes (also used
on the University of Massachusetts Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program)
that narrate a guided body scan, a guided meditation on the breath, body,
sounds, thoughts, and choice less awareness, together with two different
sessions of guided mindful hatha yoga. Series Two consists of five tapes
(each from 10 to 30 minutes long) specifically designed for those with a
more general (rather than clinical) interest in learning mindfulness meditation.
Both series can be ordered from: Stress Reduction Tapes, P.O. Box 547, Lexington,
MA 02420, USA; or from the website: www.stressreductiontapes.com.
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